Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET

VTEB max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.09
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$50
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceMax pain from Cboe open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2027-02-19 expiration, over 10 strikes carrying 1,136 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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+1.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.08
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-02-19 expiration = 2.08 USD, 4.2% of 49.09 spot.
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±4.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.75
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
How488 put contracts / 648 call contracts = 0.75 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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488 puts / 648 calls
Call wall$50
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
How50.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$51
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
How51.00 for the 2027-02-19 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV305.2%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$137K
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 10, 11:01 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-02-19 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
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per 1% move · flip ≈ $50

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$49-0.2%10d
Fri, Dec 18$48-2.2%38d
Fri, Feb 19$50+1.9%101d
Fri, May 21$49-0.2%192d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50434547505254$1M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot504346485052503503
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VTEB open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, Feb 19

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot43454750525436%5%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 10.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 504346485052+$206K−$206K
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00not quoted430.00240.00-0.00-0.03
0.99not quoted450.01180.01-0.00-0.05
0.980.00460.02930.01-0.00-0.08
0.96-0.00470.08330.02-0.00-0.14
0.87-0.00480.26070.05-0.00-0.27
0.52-0.00490.42910.10-0.00-0.55
0.23-0.00500.22250.08-0.00-0.79
0.12-0.00510.11820.06-0.00-0.88
0.07-0.00520.06910.04-0.00-0.92
0.04-0.00540.03010.020.00-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot46485052587440
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot394347515559968968
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 2K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: VTEB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk